NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, September 5, 2019

By Jessica Beard

Investors are failing to see beyond the ‘E’ in ESG as less than half of investment professionals see potential for ‘S’ and ‘G’ to drive returns, according to NN Investment Partners.

While there is growing public awareness around climate change, resource scarcity, social injustice and global population growth, investors have become increasingly focused on only one of the three key criteria attached to socially responsible investing.

The ‘E’ for environmental has become a focal point as 66% of the professional investors asked said that they believe it is the factor that has the most potential to drive returns, according to the Dutch group’s Investor Sentiment: Responsible Investing survey.

In practice, investors pay much less attention to social and governance investment themes than the environmental opportunities, NNIP stated.

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